STORY OF THE DAY: A GTO Earns Sixth on Sicily’s Mountain Roads

On 5 May 1963, Juan Manuel Bordeu and Giorgio Scarlatti finished sixth in the Targa Florio with the number 108 Ferrari 250 GTO. Their result placed a GT car prominently among the faster sports prototypes in a demanding round of the World Sportscar Championship.

Consistency was essential on the Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie, where each lap brought hundreds of corners, severe elevation changes and ordinary roadside hazards. Bordeu and Scarlatti kept the front-engined Ferrari intact while maintaining the pace needed to remain among the leading finishers.

The 250 GTO used a front-mounted three-litre Colombo V12 and a tubular chassis developed from the 250 GT SWB. Its aerodynamic berlinetta body, strong brakes and balanced handling created an unusually broad performance range, particularly valuable on a course where agility and predictability mattered as much as maximum speed.

Bordeu was an Argentine protégé of Juan Manuel Fangio who competed in European single-seaters and sports cars. Scarlatti was an experienced Italian Grand Prix and endurance driver. Their complementary backgrounds brought speed, judgment and international experience to one of Ferrari’s most accomplished GT designs.